Arch support



A. HASSINK ARCH SUPPORT sept, 16, 1930.

Filed July 29, 192.9

plete device;

Patented Sept. 16, 1930 PATENT GFFECE ALBERT HASSINK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO ARCH surronr Application filed. July 29,

My invention relates to arch supports and in particular to that type of instep arch support intended to be worn inside any shoe as an accessory thereto.

The invention has as its main object the provision of an arch support of the above type which will give longservice without undue wear, or change in shape or adjustment, andrrwithout discomfort to the wearer or injury to the shoe.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a perusal of the following specification and the drawings accompanying the same.

In the drawings f Fig. 1 is a bottom plan View of the com- Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 is a rigid steel arch plate longitudinally curved and proportioned so that, when placed in a shoe 2 in which it is to be worn, it will extend from the front of the area over the' heel 3 nearly to the ball of the foot of the wearer, its width increasing from the rear or heel end 4: toward the front end 5, so as to coliform substantially to the general contour of the tread of the foot of the wearer.

The plate 1 is covered with top and bottom inside cover members 6 and 7, of tough flexible material such as leather, and these together with a bottom, overall casing or cover member 8 of similar material underlying the member 7, are mechanically secured to the metallic plate 1 as by split tubular rivets 9. The rivets 9 are distributed substantially evenly in relation to the area under the plate, and are provided with relatively large flat heads 10, adapted to serve as wea-r plates, preventing undue wear of the lower overall cover member 8.

Cemented to the upper surface of the top inside cover member 6 is a pad 11 of resilient material such as spongerubber, cork or felt, preferably sponge rubber, extending slightly over the front and side edges of the plate and top cover member 6, and rearwardly of the plate member to form a heel pad 12, shaped 1829. Serial No. 381,851.

to cover' substantially the inside heel area of the shoe 2.

Over the pad 11 a top overall cover mem* ber 18, of tough flexible material, coextensive with the bottom overall cover member 8; the two overall cover members being secured to- -ther as by stitching 14, around and beyond the edges cf all the other members therebetween, to Vl'crm an overall covering orcasing. 'forming the inner cover member 6 and 7 so as to overlap slightly the edges of the arch plate, and the pad to overlap slightly these cover members, with the overall cover members overlapping all, the finishedl article s given a beveled edge all around; the front r end being given a more gradual bevel or taper by beveling the pad 11 at the front end as lindicated at 15 in Fig. 2.

ln order to hold the support firmly in proper position in the shoe, the arch plate 1 is provided at its rear or heel end with an anchor flange 16 extending transversely oi' the plate and downwardly therefrom into a complementary recess 17 formed in the forward part of the heel portion of' the insole for this purpose. The recess 17 may be readily formed in an obvious manner in the shoe at the time of installing the arch support by means of a suitable countersinlr punch of substantially the form ci the end of the anchor flange. rlhis anchor flange, when embedded in the insole as shown in Fig. 2, not only holds the arch support as a whole against longitudinal and lateral displacement but, because of its extended connection with the shoe, holds the support firmly against any tendency to turn. Moreover, as the pad 11 is cemented to the top inner cover 6, which in turn is riveted to the arch plate 1, 'the pad is securely held against any tendency to float or sh'ift around within the casing. The upper inner cover member 6, therefore, not only acts to shield the soft resilient material of the pad from being cut into by the edge of the arch plate, but acts also as a means for holding the pad and plate in fixed relation much more securely than that .of cementing the resilient pad material directly to the stiff metallic arch plate, which latter would have a tendency to loosen due to the usual difficulties `of cementing to metal.

A feature of the present arch Vsupport "structure to be especially noted is that the l a l u n n the devicelaclrs1eic1entanchorage, it ishrarch plate is made of `sheet-steel, of a gauge `of suchthickness and 'so tempered as to prej vent vit from` bending appreciably vunderthe A weight of Ythe wearerat any ytime,A whereby the shankof the shoe is not, only relieved ofv af portion 'of Athe weightl of thejWearei-as .'where the archy plate or "plates arek offithin sheet, spring metal, but is relieved ofthe; l ventire* weight -of .the wearer lirough the ri gidity. of the arch plate; resiliencebeingfob`- tained substantially wholly from the-pad.YAY

[Arch supports asfcominonly constructed n extend underthe ball of the foot and graduallydiminish in thickness until at theirfor ward endthe` thicknessy is practically nil.-l When so constructed, and especially vwhen Y ableto shift back and forth relatively to the p sole of the foot, and this Visbelieved to be. the 1, v cause of formation of callosities onthe ball` I of the'foot.v 'Y y @Y a, "lhle archsupport constructed according tov the presentinvention is of practically uni- Y formithicknessup to a point near toits for'- f no liability of formation'of callosities. v

- l.Jfujrtherradvantage of `this constructionvv is that it givesy very effective support'to the arch ofrthejfo'ot', thusrelieving thejball of ce i Y j ward ledge;

andfinasmuch asY the transverse flange provides effective anchorage''at'gainst`r `both longitudinal and lateral shiftingof p0- sitionirelative to therwearers foot, there isl the' foot and` also the heel'of a' material' part of the weight they would otherwise sustain. This lresu'ltsfrom the fact that the support-i ing lplate is rigid, and that instead ofextending-under the ball of the foot and grad#V ually diminishing in thickness, it l,forms a 'shoulder just behind 'the ball of the foot, and

inasmuch as it is anchored at the rear of the arch, that part of the foot is upheld and effectively supported. Y Y a v TWhilel yhave thus herein shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention for the purpose of disclosure, itis to befunderstood that the inventionfis not limited to such specific embodiment,butcon-i 'templates all such modifications andvaria'- tions thereof as fairly fallwithin thejscope of the ,appended claims. Y i f f l/Vhat is claimed'isz"y A Y *1. An'arch support comprising-a rigid arclrplate shaped to lie within a lshoe upon 'the insole extending in length` from in front f of the heel area to vnear the ball of thefoot c a. cover of flexible material 'for theplate meof a wearer,'andconforming'in contour toV the contourof that portion of the tread of the fcotof a wearer under which 1t extends,

chanically fastened thereto ataplurality of points,- a padV of resilient material cemented to the top surface of'said cover coextensive with lsaid cover to the front; and si-de edges thereof andextending,rearwardly ofthe heel ,a

end of the platesufficiently to overlie the heel Y a area of the slice, andan overall'casing of flex'n iblel material'forsaid plate, cover and pad comprising "topf and bottom'membersl Vjoined f ,y I together outside the outeredges of saidfplate, Y' .J Y cover and pad, vthehee'lend of the'plate being bent `down toyform an; elongated anchor flange, extending.transversely of the plate'` vvvanddownwardlyYthrough the bottom mem- Y, v,ber-of the overallcasing'for 'engagement with a cemplementaryy transverse recess in-- the insole of the shoe in the' front of theV heel' area..v v c 24Anparch support-comprisinga:r`igid`i l ,arch plate shaped so asto lie within, al shoe with its lengthv eXtendingf-rom the front ofk a lthe, heel area' JOnearfthe bally of the Vfoot ',of

the wearer, and conforming in contour tothe g I contour of thatportion oflthevtreadof the foot of 'a wearer vunderfwhicli extends,an inner cover of flexible materialy for the plate,

,mechanically secured thereto and extendingl slightly overthe `edges,thereof,a pad ofre;VIV t silient material cemented to thetopf' surface of said cover and extendingslightlyoverthe c y a transversedepressionin thek sole-of the shoe inthe front ofthe heelarea. .Y

f3. An farchusupport comprising-varigid arch plate arranged when placedin ashoe to extend longitudinally from thefffr'ont end ofthe heel area near the. area of the lball of;` the foot and having a, .width varying` from n rear to frontsubstantiallythe-csameras. that y c ofthe insoleofthe shoe inwhich itis placed a f 1 but with slight clearanceva-t the sides, acovei -11`5f mechanically jsecuredthereto, a pad ofresili-` ing layer of flexible vmmerialjfor the plate ent Amaterial cemented tothe upper {s ,urface of said covering layer extending lapproxie A matelytovthe'rfront and sideedges ofsaid platepand covering layer and rearwardly be` yond the rear edges to forma heel pad overf lying theheel area ofthe shoe, thel rear Vvend of saidplate being bent downwardly to form a transverse ,elongated ange'arranged to be f y,

embedded in a complementary transverse jrecessin the shoe in the front of the heel area,

form `thickness lfor thesgfull length of :the

archiso asto form a shoulder at itsforWard`v` Y edge.

said'arch vsupport being of substantially uni-y 4. An arch support comprising a rigid arch plate arranged to lie within a shoe over the insole and extend longitudinally from in front of the heel to near the ball of the foot lof the wearer, said plate being curved longitudinally only and having its area relatively `lnarrow at the end toward the heel and broadened at the end near the ball of the foot, a downwardly extending transverse flange carried by the arch plate at the heel end thereof arranged to be countersunk in the sole of a shoe in the front of the heel, top and bottom, inside covers of flexible material for said plate extending slightly over the front and side edges of the plate and rearwardly to the flange, an overall bottom cover extending slightly over the front and side edges of both the said inside covers and beyond the heel end of the plate over the heel area, rivets securing together the plate, the inside covers and the bottom overall cover, a pad of resilient material cemented to the upper face oi' said top inside cover slightly overlapping the front and side edges of the inside covers and extending beyond the heel end of the plate sufficiently to cover the heel area of the shoe in which the support is placed, and a top overall cover coextensive with the bottom overall cover and secured to said bottom 3o overall cover beyond the edges of said plate, said rivets havingr heads extending below the lower surface of the bottom overall cover to protect the said bottom surface from wear.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

ALBERT HASSINK. 

